Leena Lehtolainen is one of the most recognisable names in Finnish literature. She is Finland’s best-selling female crime author, and her books have been translated into 30 languages, including English. Lehtolainen was always destined to become an author, so much so that she published her first novel at just twelve years old. But it was the creation of her punky policewoman Maria Kallio in 1993 that saw her grace the bestseller lists for the first time. Kallio is Lehtolainen’s most iconic character, credited with toppling the male dominance of Finnish crime writing. A staple of Finnish crime literature, every new instalment of the Kallio series shoots straight to the top of the Finnish bestseller lists, and the latest TV adaptation of these works, KALLIO, is in its second season with MTV3 in Finland, and can be watched on Amazon Prime in the US and UK.
Her other major series, the “Bodyguard” books, centre on the globe-trotting woman of action Hilja Ilveskero, who singlehandedly defeats forces of evil across Europe using the skills she acquired in an exclusive bodyguard school in New York. Evoking the deadliness of KILLING EVE’s Villainelle, Hilja is an exciting heroine in a genre that has too long favoured men. Hilja’s story continues in the sixth book The Snow Leopard’s Heart.
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